Author's Note: I got a request on my tumblr to write a fic where Steve gets sick, but the kids need his help so he hides it until he can't anymore. I hope you enjoy it! (There's not a whole lot of sick Steve in the first chapter, but there will be more as the story progresses. Kali will also enter the story soon. I ended up getting a lot more plotty with this fic than a regular sickfic...)

It had been a long day; not a particularly interesting day, but long. When Steve had woken up that morning, every muscle in his body was sore, and he just felt... off. But he chalked it up to the fact that basketball practice had been more intense than usual the previous day, and dragged himself out of bed to go to school.

Now that he was back home, however, he had the nagging feeling that there was something more to his aching limbs and the dull throbbing beginning in his head.

He flopped onto his bed, face down, not bothering to remove his jacket or shoes, or even get under the covers, falling asleep almost the moment that his head hit the pillow, hoping that he'd be able to sleep off whatever this was.

Suddenly he was awoken by the harsh ringing of the telephone he kept on his nightstand. It felt as though he'd only been asleep for only ten minutes, but upon glancing at his alarm clock, he realized it had already been over an hour.

He sighed, which turned into a couple raspy coughs, and reached for the phone, clearing his throat and speaking into the receiver, "...Hello?"

"Steve, it's Dustin," a voice said on the other line, "We need your help." The kid sounded scared and Steve sighed.

"What'd you shitheads do now?" he asked.

"El-- Jane did... something. I'll explain it when you get here-- I can't tell you over the phone."

"...Where are you?"

"The cabin."

"Okay. Stay where you are. I'll be there in twenty. Don't move until I get there."

"Okay. And Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Bring the bat."

There was a click and then a dial tone indicating that Dustin had hung up. Steve groaned and put the phone down, slowly sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he dragged a tired hand down his face.

He loved those little shits like siblings, but damnit, they had a knack for picking the most inconvenient times to get into trouble.

He arrived at the cabin twenty minutes later, just as he'd promised, and he knocked on the door, making sure to use the secret knock Hopper had taught him so that he wouldn't scare the kids.

There was no sign that the door would be opened, so he called out, "Guys? Are you in there? El? It's Steve."

There was another minute of silence before he heard several clicks on the other side of the door, which then slowly creaked open to reveal a curly haired girl. She looked like she'd been crying, and hugged Steve as soon as she fully opened the door.

"Hey," he said as he gently wrapped his arms around her, "What the hell is going on?"

"...I'm sorry," El said, her voice wavering, "It's my fault... I... I found him."

"Found who? El, what is going on?"

"Papa," she whispered, and started sobbing.

Steve held her a little tighter then, trying to calm her down as best he could as he looked around at the other children in the cabin. They were all there, and they all looked almost as frightened as Eleven.

The teen sighed and ushered the girl into the cabin, closing the door behind them and locking it with every one of the many locks that Hopper had attached to it.

"Okay," Steve said as he lead El to to couch and sat down with her, "Does somebody wanna explain what's going on here?"

"Hopper and Mrs. Byers are M.I.A." said Dustin, "El was trying to look for them using her powers."

"She found them, but she also found..." Mike said, trailing off as he looked at the girl who was crying softly into Steve's shoulder.

"He has them," Will said in a surprisingly even voice considering that some evil scientist was holding his mother captive.

"Who has them?" Steve asked, still confused.

"...Papa..." Eleven whimpered.

"Where does he have them?"

"Somewhere else..."

"Outside of Hawkins?"

El nodded slightly, and everyone was quiet for a minute before she spoke again, "...Sister."

"...What?" everyone asked in confusion, except for Mike and Will who were the only ones El had told about her sister.

"My sister," El said again, finally lifting her head from Steve's shoulder and wiping her eyes, "She can help."

"...Do you know where she is?" Will asked, and El shook her head.

"No... But I can find her."

"Is she like you?" said Dustin, "You know, with the whole..." he trailed off, making nondescript movements with his hands.

El's head bobbed slightly in response with a quiet, "Yes."

Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, trying to fend off an impending headache, then stopped, suddenly realizing something. "Do they know about this place?" he asked, looking at El, "The bad men?"

"I don't know..." she said, fear clear in her expression.

Steve sighed again and nodded a little, "We can't stay here, then."

"I agree," said Lucas, "But where do we go?"

"If El can find her sister," Mike said, "then maybe we can stay with her."

"Do you think you can do that?" Max asked, looking at Eleven.

El nodded, "I can do it."

Eleven went into her room a few minutes later and closed the door behind her, leaving the others in the living room.

Steve was still confused as to what exactly was going on, and it didn't help that his body was still aching all over. The nap he'd taken earlier hadn't seemed to help at all -- if anything, he felt worse than he had before going to sleep. But these kids needed him, so there was no way he was going to be sick. He wouldn't allow it; he needed to protect these little shits.